Physicians and Surgeons in the U.S. have some of the highest paying
careers in the world. According to The Real Cost of the US Health Care
System The salaries for general and specialist physicians in the United
States are paid twice as much as other countries. "The number (ie,
“volume”) of physicians in the United States is comparatively low,
thereby offsetting the effect of high salaries. In the United States,
there are 2.6 physicians per 1000 citizens, whereas in Germany the
ratio is 4.1/1000 and in Sweden 4.2/1000". (Emanuel). Even though
in the U.S. our physicians' salaries are high, it does not contribute to
the high costs of healthcare since there are less providers compared
to other countries. "Growing healthcare costs have made millions of
citizens vulnerable. Major drivers of the healthcare costs are
institutionalized medical practices and reimbursement policies,
technology‐induced costs and consumer behavior." (Kumar). If the
U.S. had more physicians, the payroll costs would have to decrease in
order to balance the overall costs of the medical facility as in other
countries. The question would then be if there would be less
physicians in the future if they were not getting paid as much?
The increasing costs of medical education and residency can put
many medical school students into serious debt, so they will naturally
want to choose the highest paying job to pay off their debt faster
once they graduate. "More than 85 percent of medical students now
graduate with outstanding loans. Average student indebtedness is
$157,990, with nearly 80 percent of graduates owing at least
$100,000. Just two decades ago, indebtedness averaged $27,000
(American Medical Association n.d.)". (Zhu). These were the numbers
back in 2012 and they are even higher today. With new federal
policies, advancing medical technologies, and code of ethics, there
are more classes being added and changed to the curriculum making
it harder to be accepted into these programs for individuals who can
not afford the high prices of education and residency programs. I
think it is reasonable that physicians command such a large paycheck
as they have the education and experience to potently save a life in a
emergency or chronic situation. It is their job to help others and do
no harm, so they should be paid for their expertise and life saving
abilities. I think instead of focusing on physician's pay we should
focus on the increasing education tuition fees. If tuition was reduced
we could potentially have more providers in the future, they would
not feel crumbled from all of the debt their program incurred, and
they would probably accept a lower paying job which could lower
payroll costs in facilities.
References:
Emanuel EJ. (2018). The Real Cost of the US Health Care
System. JAMA. 2018;319(10):983–985.
doi:10.1001/jama.2018.1151 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam
a/article‐abstract/2674647
Kumar, S.
, Ghildayal, N.S.
and Shah, R.N.
(2011), "Examining quality
and efficiency of the US healthcare system", International Journal of
Health Care Quality Assurance
, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 366‐
388. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09526
861111139197/full/html
Zhu, Jane, and Ian Metzler. (2012). "Primary care physicians, an
endangered species?: how rising medical school debt is threatening
our health care system." Kennedy School Review, vol. 12, annual 2012,
pp. 47+. Gale Academic OneFile,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A312828700/AONE?
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